Options
Wedding Photos ?
illuminati919
Registered Users Posts: 713 Major grins
Alright so today my photo teacher told me to go talk to a teacher that I had no idea about. The story is, her sister is getting married and really doesn't want to pay for a professional photographer because they're on a tight budget for the wedding so they're looking for an amature so that they could get a price break and I was recommended by my teacher. First of it's an honor to take photos of someone but it's alsot very scary because this is someones wedding and you can't redo weddings.
So I have a couple of questions, especially for Shay Stephens, I know he does wedding photos.
What kind of lens would be the best to use, currently I have:
All Canon lenses.
50mm f.1.4
28-80mm f.3.5- 5.0
70-200mm f.4.0
Canon 580 ex speedlite
The wedding and recpetion will both be outside.
Give me some tips such as, when to use a flash ? How to use a flash ? When to use a certain lens ? Tips before the wedding starts, things to look for, etc ? Any help would be awesome, especially from Shay
.
Also if you could direct me to older posts about wedding photos that would be great as well, thanks alot guys. You're help is always appreciated.
So I have a couple of questions, especially for Shay Stephens, I know he does wedding photos.
What kind of lens would be the best to use, currently I have:
All Canon lenses.
50mm f.1.4
28-80mm f.3.5- 5.0
70-200mm f.4.0
Canon 580 ex speedlite
The wedding and recpetion will both be outside.
Give me some tips such as, when to use a flash ? How to use a flash ? When to use a certain lens ? Tips before the wedding starts, things to look for, etc ? Any help would be awesome, especially from Shay
.Also if you could direct me to older posts about wedding photos that would be great as well, thanks alot guys. You're help is always appreciated.
0
Comments
Before that, my own point is often: if you don't know when to use a flash, then don't use it
Shooting a wedding is about capturing the emotions. The way you do it doesn't really matter.
You should first meet the bride with her groom, then show'em what you've done so far. Thus, you'll understand what they then how you can accomodate it
By the way: usually, I only use the flash during the portrait. I don't really like it everywhere else, but this is just me.
What is your slr, by the way ?
If it's a FF, you can do everything with the 28-80. Eventually, use the 70-200 for the portraits ( @ 80). Don't bother changing your lens too often, you may feel uncomfortable.
Setup: One camera, one lens, and one roll of film.
I also shoot a 20D. I used to have a dRebel (sold it to a friend). I've asked to borrow it back for the day as a back up. If the 20D dies, I need to be able to continue shooting!!!
As soon as B&H wakes up tomorrow, I'll be ordering an off-camera shoe cord and a flash bracket.
On a 1.6 crop-factor (CF) camera, a 50mm will make a good protrait lens as it works out to 80mm on the CF camera, so I'm going to get a copy of the fantastic plastic (EF 50 1.8 II).
With that, the flash and Fong Lightsphere I already have, I figure I'm pretty set.
As for tips - like people are always saying, "Search is your friend." I found a lot of information through google, looking for "wedding shot list". In addition to a large number of shot lists, I also found one photographer who had put together a list of things to do to prepare for the event, things to do during the event, things to be sure to bring along, that sort of thing. You can find it here.
One thing I have gleaned from my reshearch is, if at all possible, have a backup for EVERYTHING, even your glasses (if you wear them).
My Photos
Thoughts on photographing a wedding, How to post a picture, AF Microadjustments?, Light Scoop
Equipment List - Check my profile
Honestly, if you have to ask those questions, maybe you should respectfully decline....Unless you have shot at a wedding before, I wouldn't make my first time, someones else's first time either. It's always better to be at a wedding as a back up, or friend, where you can shoot and try all the things you are asking.
Using someone's wedding day as a learning day, isn't really fair to them, no matter how tight money is for them.
Now if you've done weddings before.......never mind.
That said, Jeffro's right that you shouldn't be practicing on wedding day. Maybe you have spent some time in the Boy Scouts ... remember their motto ... Be Prepared!
Go to your local bigbox bookstore. The bookstore and the library are your friends. Their are plenty of recent books on wedding photography that cover a lot of the things you need to do or ask the bride/groom about.
What do they expect? It's hard to hit a target if you don't know what the target is! I looked at a few of your photos and I think you certainly have creativity.
Your 28-80mm lens will probably be the lens you use the most during the ceremony. Your other lens will be useful for other elements of the wedding. But it will depend on the picture you/they desire. So starting looking at images in books & magazines, and reading!
Fill flash is extremely easy with the 20D and the 580EX. It takes no effort to practice. Set your camera to Av.
You need to have the flash set to E-TTL. I usually set the flash to -1/3 or -2/3 stops (hit the little button in the center of the rotating ring and turn the ring counter clockwise). This is generally about right for filling in the shadows on faces, etc. A diffuser would be very useful. I have both the lightsphere I & II and I'm very happy with them.
I would also get used to shooting RAW. It will allow you to correct any White Balance shifts, but more importantly, to improve (but maybe not save) an over/underexposed photo. Wedding photos can be particularly tricky for a camera if the Bride's dress is bright white and the grooms tux is dark black. Your camera my pick sometime in the middle and you can blow out the highlights in the dress. This is where checking the histogram comes in ... you'll be able to tell if you need to under/overexpose the photo. I don't remember if this was the normal setting on the 20D or whether I had to set it on a custom function, but to adjust the exposure, I simply compose the shot, push the shutter release half way for the camera to pick its shutter speed (in Av mode), and simply rotate the wheel on the back of the camera to move the exposure up or down (I definitely know that I set a custom function on the camera to move in 1/3 of a stop increments). You will find that sometimes you may have to underexpose by 2/3's of a stop. It all depends on the lighting ...
You should have a tripod.
Always have spare batteries for the flash and camera (and make sure the chargeable batteries are charged the night before).
Be sure you have enough flash cards. You will get approx. 100 photos per 1 Gb card in RAW.
When you have finally read enough/practiced enough, asked enough questions of the couple, etc. make sure you make yourself a little cheat sheet of the photos you want to take and have someone help you stay on track (it's also very useful to ask to couple what photos they absolutely MUST have, i.e. bride with her favorite grandma, bride being kissed by her dad, etc. etc.)
There's so many more things to think about, but I think you're starting out the right way, asking questions. Good luck and
have fun.
And of course remember, these are just MY opinions
Regards,
Brad
www.digismile.ca
Wedding photography is best done if you plan to do it all the time, and best avoided if you are only going to do it once in a while. The reason for this is that wedding photography is so high-pressure and once-in-a-lifetime and emotionally charged and yet formalized that you need to have far more good technique and equipment than you would for your normal, casual shoots. For example, like a couple posts mentioned, you must have backups of every critical item. You need to bring/buy more cards, batteries, and bodies than you normally use. (It helps if you can borrow.) You must be able to answer the question "What do I do if this or that fails halfway through the evening?" For another example, a wedding is not a good place to be new to certain kinds of shots. You should already know what you need to do in every situation during the evening. And the time and practice spent to gain that knowledge is only worth it if, again, you plan to do it regularly in the future.
One of my photographer friends refuses to do weddings because they heard too many stories about friendships that were lost when friends shot other friends weddings. Friend 1 wants to save money so they don't hire a pro. Friend 2 intends to do a favor but starts to realize that they are investing a lot of money and time on extra equipment and research for a one-time job providing below-market pay. Then the photos come back and the couple finds they're not quite the stereotypical wedding package they now realize they expected. Both sides become disillusioned and resentful. And there the downward spiral starts. Another friend said that it is not good for friends to negotiate. The whole thing is a bunch of land mines.
At another wedding, my smart but not rich friends didn't rely on just one of us. They knew they couldn't afford what they really wanted, so they asked any of their shutterbug friends to bring a camera and fire away, only if they wanted to, without expectations. The shutterbugs had fun, operational redundancy was achieved, the couple got a pile of different viewpoints, and nobody felt awkward. Leaving disposable cameras on every table helps fill in the candids.
For one of the weddings, outdoor, I went the week before and dragged a friend along, putting her in the spots where the action would be and figuring out what the light was going to be like at that time of day, what the exposures would need to be, where I needed to stand, where the nearest outlet was for my charger, etc. That helped a lot.
Sorry about being so cautionary. Asking questions like you did is very smart. If you prepare well you could all have a great experience. Maybe you'll get into it and want to go into the wedding business!
By the way, do not rely on raw files for a wedding.
I mean: do not think you will fix the image later. It's quite a lot of work to balance all the pictures afterward. Instead, try to expose everything right. About the white balance: do a manual one at each place you'll take pictures.
And everything that have been said about friendship's issue is damn right...
Last thing but not least: don't forget your max aperture is 3.5 to 5 with your zoom, so take some time to experiment flash setup in action. You won't have time to test everything at the wedding.
I'd better tell you to work manual. Even with the flash. You just have to regulate its "strenght" thanks to the aperture, then.